Why Democrats Will Shun the Sanders Ocasio-Cortez Data Center Bill
By Paul Steidler: Democratic Socialist Bernie Sanders of Vermont, with support from Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, yesterday introduced legislation that will require an indefinite moratorium on the building of data centers “to ensure the safety of humanity.”
While the proposal has garnered much media attention, it is not likely to go anywhere, in large part because nearly all Democrats want nothing to do with it. Asked about the legislation, Senator Mark Warner of Virginia, a leading voice on technology in the Senate, called it “idiocy.” Sanders is his bill’s only sponsor.
Democratic governors, including Pennsylvania’s Josh Shapiro and California’s Gavin Newsom, regularly talk about the benefits of AI and work to attract investments in the technology. In the U.S. House of Representatives, Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, on December 9, announced a House Democratic Commission on AI, saying America is positioned “to lead the world in artificial intelligence and pioneer potentially life-changing breakthroughs in medicine and other fields.”
In addition to medical breakthroughs, here are four other reasons why support for AI and the building of accompanying data centers makes compelling policy and political sense and has broad, bipartisan support.
Vast numbers of jobs – There is an economic boom now for skilled craftsmen, such as plumbers, electricians, pipe fitters, and others in the building trades, due to the construction of data centers.
Long-term sustainable tax revenue — Data centers provide large, predictable, long-term tax revenue to fund schools and reduce property taxes for communities.
Renewable energy build-out – Big tech companies remain strongly committed to reducing their greenhouse gas footprints and often make investments in renewable power that would otherwise not occur.
China – China is pushing ahead aggressively to build AI, and there is nothing Bernie Sanders can do about that from a policy standpoint. Americans, across the political spectrum, want to see China’s economic power checked, and U.S. AI leadership is central to accomplishing that.